Depressed, Liberals? Give Thanks for Kentucky's Gay Mayor

I can't get too depressed that the GOP is taking over the House of Representatives. Not my favorite thing, but I'm confident that gridlock will carry the day. Some of my liberal friends are feeling depressed, though, so I'd like to point them to this:

"Kentucky’s second-largest city has elected an openly gay man as its next mayor. Vice-Mayor Jim Gray was victorious tonight in his second campaign for the city’s top job, beating incumbent Mayor Jim Newberry."

Now, Lexington is a university town ... sort of. (I kid!) It's just one of two Kentucky counties that Obama won in 2008. But with those caveats out of the way: Hey! One of Kentucky's largest cities just elected a gay man as mayor!

It's not much. Maybe even not enough. But I think it's a sign that, despite whatever losses Democrats and liberals are taking at the polls tonight, the culture is slowly but surely sliding to the left in some important and very meaningful ways. Congratulations to Jim Gray.